Stroke victim raises awareness of aphasia through film

Carl McIntyre didn’t let a stroke stop his acting career.

After losing his ability to read, write and talk to a neurological disorder when he was 44 years old, McIntyre produced his first film.

The 40-minute film — titled “Aphasia” after the disorder from which he suffers — will be screened tonight in the Student Union Great Hall.

The screening is being sponsored by the UNC Center for Aphasia and Related Disorders and the communications studies honors fraternity Lambda Pi Eta.

Aphasia — common among stroke victims — impairs the brain’s ability to communicate. Some can regain their abilities to a certain extent with rehabilitation, while others lose them permanently.

McIntyre underwent rehabilitation at UNC’s Center for Aphasia and is now able to read, write and speak again.

Following the screening, he will lead an interactive presentation about the way the disease has affected his life.

Anna Styers, the president of the Lambda Pi Eta, said that the film has a bit of humor in it, despite its dark subject matter.

“McIntyre has a unique way of expressing himself,” she said. “A lot of the movie’s humor is nonverbal.”

Dr. Katarina Haley, an associate professor in the department of allied health sciences, worked with McIntyre at the Center for Aphasia.

“He came up with the idea for this project when we were helping him set goals for himself,” she said. “It became pretty obvious that his acting abilities were not affected by the stroke.”

Haley said she hopes the screening will raise awareness on campus about aphasia.

“Aphasia is a disorder that’s not very well understood by the general public,” she said. “This film is a good introduction to what it actually is.”

She said at the film’s premiere in Charlotte in 2010, a large number of people with aphasia were in the audience.

“They agreed that it was a really good portrait of what aphasia can be like,” she said.

Though film screenings fall under her duties as president, Styers has a personal connection to the film.

When she was 10, her mother had a stroke and has since suffered from aphasia.

“It really hits home for me,” she said.

Haley said that in addition to its real representation of a misunderstood disease, “Aphasia” is a quality short film.

“It appeals to anybody, whether you’re in the medical field or not,” she said.

“It’s a roller coaster of emotions. It’s a human story about human perseverance and hope.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.